Canada: Poor crop making further large shipments of barley very unlikely

Canada’s barley yield and quality have been affected and even to a certain extent destroyed by the long drought, followed by heavy rainfalls at harvest time. The results are low plumpness, low test weight, high protein, and finally sprouted and chitted grains, H. M. Gauger GmbH said in their October report.

Canada had sold almost 2.0 mln tonnes of barley before harvest, some quantities have been cancelled since. Exports in August-mid September were only 96 thousand tonnes. The Pacific coast loading program till early October is 110 thousand tonnes of malting and 620 thousand tonnes of feed barley, all for China. Further large shipments are very unlikely for the rest of the campaign, the analysts said.

In the domestic market, far cheaper U.S. corn will replace a large part of the feed barley deficit, at least 2.0 mln tonnes. The malting barley deficit will be a far bigger problem. Rumours are that one or more cargoes of Danish malting barley have already been sold to Canada.

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